Cody Ross Defeats Marlins in Arbitration

   Nobody should be too terribly surprised -- least of all the Marlins -- that Cody Ross won his salary arbitration case against the club. A panel of arbitrators sided with the outfielder on Tuesday, awarding him a salary of $4.45 million for the upcoming season.

    That makes three straight losses for the Marlins in salary arbitration hearings, following defeats in previous years to Miguel Cabrera and Dan Uggla. The decision on Ross, though, seemingly became all but a slam dunk last week when outfielder Corey Hart won his case against the Milwaukee Brewers.

    Hart, who is comparable to Ross statistically, was awarded $4.8 million -- considerably more than what Ross had requested. With the Marlins countering with a salary request of $4.2 million in the Ross case, it probably didn't take the three-member panel very long to reach their decision.

    Compare the career and 2009 offensive numbers for Ross and Hart, each of whom was in his second year of salary arbitration:

    CAREER BA/OBP/SLG          G      HR     RBI

    Cody Ross     .264/.323/.484   483    72 254

    Corey Hart      .273/.326/.470  521    67 260

     2009         BA/OBP/SLG       G     HR     RBI

     Cody Ross   .270/.321/.469    151    24    90

     Corey Hart     .260/.335/.418      115   12    48

     Considering what Hart received in his arbitration case, the Marlins should consider Ross a bargain at $4.45 million.